Question of the Day - 16 June 2023

Yesterday, we discussed the jurisdictional nature of smoking bans, focusing on Atlantic City and Shreveport. Today, we consider the possible timelines for a complete ban to smoking in casinos.

As of now, the timeline looks grim, especially in smoke-loving Nevada. In Rhode Island, Senate Bill 438 would close the state’s casino loophole for smoking, but it’s opposed by the state’s lone casino operator, Bally’s Entertainment. The latter is slugging it out with casino workers over the issue as we type. 

New Jersey is an object lesson in the advantage the casino industry holds over nonsmokers. A pair of bills to close the Garden State’s casino-smoking loophole have 83 co-sponsors and a majority of the legislature; even Gov. Phil Murphy has promised to sign the bill if passed. Still, it’s considered a long shot, due to the scare tactics promulgated by the industry.

This is where we picked up our conversation with Cynthia Hallett, president of Americans for Nonsmokers Rights.

In New Jersey, why is the anti-smoking bill taking so long to get through the legislature and is there enough support to pass it in this session?

Both Rhode Island and New Jersey over a decade ago — New Jersey a bit longer — passed comprehensive, statewide, smoke-free-workplace bills for office spaces, non-hospitality workplaces, restaurants and bars. But in the early 2000s, both exempted casinos. That’s interesting, because other states at the time, like California (granted, it doesn’t have commercial casinos like other states; it does have horse racing, card rooms, etc.) was the first to put gaming in their statewide smoke-free-workplace law. Then it was Delaware and New York. So there was definitely an uptick in 2002, 2003. By the time New Jersey and Rhode Island were looking at their smoke-free laws, they could have been like their (New York and Delaware) partners and included casinos. But they didn't.

So now, post-pandemic, particularly in New Jersey where workers experienced a smoke-free workplace, when smoking was returned, they were concerned and disgruntled when they were told they could not have the same protections as every other worker in every other indoor workplace throughout the state. So in New Jersey, we're hopeful and working diligently to make sure that both of the bills that would close that casino loophole can be heard this session. We're grateful that there were informational hearings where there was a lot of good discussion, but we really need to bring this to a vote. Every day we delay — and by "we," I mean the legislature — more workers are exposed to a known carcinogen and they will be sick. They’re unhappy working in smoke-filled places. They love their jobs. They hate the smoke.

It’s more a question in our minds of why leadership won’t bring it for a vote. There’re always excuses. I’ve been working on these public-health issues for smoke-free air since 1989 and delay tactics are always used by the industry, whether it’s tobacco and, over the last decade-plus, by the casino industry. Delay is a strategy pursued by the industry, because the longer they can push it off, the longer they have before they have to make a very simple but critical life-saving change.

Ultimately, does the political will exist to buck the power of the casino lobby?

[laughs] That's the question. We know that a lot of individuals, from elected officials to even people who work in the gaming industry, support us in principle. But we're up against a huge opponent that has lots of influence on elected officials. Despite being the trend of over 20 states that include casinos in their statewide smoke-free laws and over 160 tribal casinos that (as sovereign nations) have voluntarily made their casinos smoke-free, the industry for all that it talks about wanting to focus on innovation is stuck with the antiquated thought that you have to have smoking in casinos. If you look at generational changes and the adult smoking-prevalence rate going down in the United States, trying to maintain smoking in casinos is playing to a very small audience. 

I’ve attended a lot of gaming expos and conferences — everything from Global Gaming Expo to the East Coast Gaming Conference and Nickel G’s (the National Association of Legislators from Gaming States) — and they always talk about wanting to open their doors, bring more people in to enjoy the entertainment of casinos. Yet the people they’re trying to invite, typically, younger audiences, don’t smoke and not all of them want to gamble. So casinos will invest in new amenities and entertainment, but they won’t make a simple change, which is providing a smoke-free environment, which most of the country is already used to in terms of workplaces, restaurants, and bars. If people still want to smoke, they can. They just have to step outside and smoke in ways that don’t harm others.

What do you say to the industry’s argument that, in Atlantic City, if smoking is completely banned, jobs will be lost and worse yet, casinos will have to close?

That’s a false argument. We haven't seen that in other places that have gone smoke-free. We’ve heard this argument since before smoke-free restaurants and bars were common. If you have a business of entertainment that people are interested in coming to, they will come. You just need to make sure people understand that yours is a smoke-free environment and that there’s a place to smoke —outdoors.

Have you had any conversations with the casinos in Las Vegas?

We have. We’ve been talking with executives from all the states. Keep in mind that the executives in Las Vegas have properties in other states, so most operate businesses in states where they’re required to be smoke-free. Again, in New Jersey, operators know how to operate in a smoke-free environment, because they’ve had that experience. We’ve seen people come in. Of course, during the pandemic that may have been one of the few places that was open, but they’ve operated in a way that it was a safe environment and people could go outside to smoke. So we’ve talked to them and they’ve said … "Maybe.'

In Las Vegas, Park MGM went smoke-free and it has been operating very successfully. Another casino (Plaza) is opening a tower that will be 100 percent smoke-free and that's where Brian Christopher is going to have his machines. He's one of those younger gaming enthusiasts who, a couple of years ago, made a pledge that he would play only in smoke-free casinos as of 2023 and he's held true to that promise.

As we’re talking about whether players will come and frequent the casino, the answer is yes. These laws are about health and safety issues for employees. Thousands of workers in these businesses, again, love their jobs, but they hate the smoke. They know that it’s making them unwell. And then it’s a fairness issue, because they can see that every other worker in every other space in New Jersey, in Rhode Island, has a 100 percent smoke-free environment and they’re wondering why they're being second-class citizens.